Constructivism refers a teaching/learning methodology in which students are predisposed to develop their own understanding of various mathematical concepts. The teacher simply creates an ideal situation for students to make desired mental constructions that are necessary for the inculcation of mathematical knowledge. Constructivism involves decomposition of mathematical concepts into constituent developmental steps as postulated by Piagetian theory of transferring knowledge. For effective teaching, the teacher must first establish the entry behavior of learners through interviews and direct observation before students learn new concepts.

Constructivism takes a center stage in the success or failure of mathematics education. It not only determines how mathematics is taught to students but also methods of transmitting mathematical facts to the students. Educators must choose the right tasks for students to perform based on their (students) abilities and background knowledge so as to succeed in learning the subject. However, the constructivism neither develops different ways of teaching nor remedial measures to failing students.

Constructivism puts special emphasis on how students learn mathematics. The article states that the knowledge of mathematics is best derived from the formation of model by people in response to existing tasking challenges and questions within the learner’s environment. Engaging students in problem solving exercises through exploration, questions, and real life puzzles is the main approach of improving mathematical teaching that constitutes constructivism in the classroom.

Constructive approach would highly yield good results in a mathematics classroom because most of the abstract mathematical concepts could only be understood and further appreciated through effective use of models, problem solving, question-answer methods and other categories of engagement methods. In this kind of a practical approach, students could easily understand and appreciate various applications of different mathematical concepts in real life situation. However, constructivism can also fail to achieve expected learning and teaching results if the learning environment is not rich enough to support intended learning activities.